Marble Brewery, UK, Flying Triangle - £4.80, 7.4 per cent

RENOWNED for making a range of traditional and imaginative contemporary beers from their home in Manchester, Marble are a British brewing institution. This week’s beer is a style so new that it’s only vaguely defined so far. Flying Triangle is a Brut IPA – the antithesis of the juicy, full bodied New England IPA. Instead of being full bodied, sweet, and juicy, the aim is to create a beer that is dry, light bodied, and refreshing akin to a dry white wine.

Flying Triangle pours a brilliant pale gold, with a pin-bright body and a tightly packed head of compact white foam. The aroma is likely to surprise those familiar with contemporary IPA, being delicate, subdued, and elegantly balanced. Combining elderflower and lemon balm into a sweetly fruity aroma, a crisply acidic apple note accents a crisp, lightly malty base.

Light bodied, and refreshingly dry, Flying Triangle combines pale, wheaty malt with soft, fruity hops. Sweet, woolly pears and juicy plums combine with a nudge of strawberry and a twist of bitter orange peel.

Even and bitter in the finish, this Brut IPA combines a crisp, acidic finish with a lightly mineral bitterness and a crisp lager-y finish. Flying Triangle is a wonderful take on a new style from a brewery that has seen many styles as they’ve come in and out of fashion. Whether Brut IPA sticks around or not is unimportant, as long as Marble continue brewing beer of this quality.

Recommended by Michael Bates, Trembling Madness, York